by Randal Sloan
He called his Exec on his implants as he stepped out of his quarters. “Andre, how close are we?”
“We’ll make it with most of our crew. We’re missing a couple of officers that apparently had found themselves in a card game, and a few of our enlisted and Marines that were at one of the bars on station. I’m still hopeful they’ll make it before we leave. Luckily, no one was on planet.”
John was walking as he talked. “What’s our status in Engineering? Are they going to be ready to go?”
“It’ll be tight, but they’ll make it. We always have enough reactors hot to be able to respond to any emergency and they just need to bring them up to full power. Of course, if you hear them talk, they’re attempting to do the impossible, but they’ll be ready.”
John asked the question he feared the most. He knew the Captain of the Dauntless ran a tight ship and he expected his crew to be able to pull it off, but the other captains, maybe not so much. “What about the other ships in the squadron? Are they going to be able to make it?”
“They’re not nearly as ready as we are, and so they’ll possibly have to launch short-handed, but they’ll make it. A few critical personnel will probably have to catch up by courier ship at no slight expense to the Empire, but personally I think it’s worth it. Even without the urgency, this would have been a good exercise.”
“I told my uncle my cousin will beat us there and I still think she will, despite her being on the other side of the galaxy. I can promise you this: I guarantee she’ll beat our time getting underway, despite this easily setting the record for the Navy.”
Andre laughed. “You’re right about the record. You know the closest time is 5 hours and we suspect they somehow received advanced warning through the grapevine. If I weren’t as astute as I happen to be, I’d probably wager against your cousin, but I’ve seen enough that I would never do so. Still, it would seem impossible.”
John nodded, his implants smart enough to impact that information as well as his facial expressions in the 3D representation of him to the one receiving the link. “We’ll have to assume she’s not going to make it. That means going in hot, with little advance information. Not going to be easy if we can even get there on time.”
Andre smiled, his implants not as smart as his Prince’s but still functional enough to indicate it. “Unless, she really does get there first and steals all our thunder once again.”
John ignored the implicit dig. As far as he was concerned, his cousin could have all of the limelight. “That would be fine by me. Otherwise, I fear we may well find ourselves in a diplomatic disaster and be forced to do clean-up. Not much thunder there to steal.”
John shook his head. “I’ll be on the bridge momentarily. I’ll be able to lend some slight assistance to your work.”
“Yes, you can talk to all the ships’ captains. I’m setting up a VR conference for you as we speak. Even though I told them, I doubt any of them believe we’ll leave them behind if they’re not ready.”
“Oh, we’ll leave them alright.”
Reaching the bridge, John didn’t have time to speculate regarding his cousin or what they would find when they arrived at their destination. He did enjoy the look on the faces of those captains that were convinced he wasn’t serious until they heard it from him. “We’ll leave at the appointed time, with or without you, and I can promise you that it’ll be the last time you’ll be called Captain if your ship doesn't make it.”
Despite their looks of chagrin, no one dared say anything else. The Prince had a reputation for being hard, but fair, and they knew if he said he expected them to be ready, they’d better be ready. They also knew his ship would leave on time, so they wouldn’t be getting any leeway.
“If you have any constructive questions, please bring them up at any time. If you have a critical officer that you know won’t be able to make it in time, pass that on to Commander Andre and he will schedule them a courier transport to meet up with us.”
“As we get close to the destination and we have more intel, I’ll call an inflight meeting to brief you on the details. Any more questions?”
Still no direct response, so John ended the call, lest someone did get the courage to speak up. It wouldn’t matter as far as he was concerned, but it would waste everyone’s time.
No matter what, they would leave on time.
On board the ship Katarina, Jarra was tired of having to assume her royal role as a crown princess of the realm more than her military role as the mere Lieutenant Jarra Carsean. It was the royal role she was having to assume now.
They had still just started their preparations to leave orbit when she received a rather urgent com message, forwarded to her from her uncle with instructions to do whatever she needed to do. That message was from Master Sergeant Gibbons from his location on New Earth where she’d sent them safely away on their “mission” just before Katarina had begun her own much more dangerous mission. At least that was what she thought would happen at the time.
When she heard the message, her whole world changed. Already sensing something important was up, that message told her that her gut feeling was spot on. Everything about that message had her worried. Just the chance her Marines could be overwhelmed terrified her, but it was a lot more than that. Somehow, she knew this had galactic implications, not that she understood why.
That also meant she didn’t have time to deal with the slow-moving Borjon, and so that meant needing to use her Crown credentials to get them moving faster. The Borjon people lived a lot longer than the humans, even with the life extension therapies that the humans had made over the last century. Because of this, the Borjon tended to look at life from a wider perspective and didn’t understand the human way of rushing into things.
Somehow Jarra knew if she waited on the normal slow movement of their new friends, they would not make their destination in time. They were a long distance away from where they needed to be, literally half a galaxy away, and they dared not wait. She sent an immediate recall to their Borjon team member Kaeden with a message she hoped sufficiently portrayed the urgency of their situation. She even thought about leaving him behind, but something told her his presence was needed on this mission.
Once more, it looked like it was back into the fray for Katarina and her crew. It had only been moments before she’d listened to that urgent message from her Marines on the planet New Earth, but her anxiety at getting such an urgent message from the ones she considered her own had been quickly replaced with determination. She had to get there in time! They were there because she’d sent them there for what she expected to be a little time off. Apparently it wasn’t working out that way and it was up to her to fix it.
“Princess,” the message had begun simply, but then stopped with what Jarra instantly understood was intended to be a potent pause. Even without the urgent status, she would have immediately known something was wrong. It was being dictated by Master Sergeant Gibbons and he appeared quite worried in the video pickup. Luckily, that pause was not too long. He immediately went into the details of what was not good news to her.
“In the course of our research into the local government of New Earth, we have discovered discrepancies that indicate a huge class issue. It’s bad enough to the point that many are suffering from a shortage of food while the privileged live in luxury. But more importantly, we’ve discovered a plot to overthrow the government and it appears to involve a new group of aliens.
“We’ll attempt to warn the Provisional Governor and gather as many as possible in a location we can defend until you arrive, but we’ll only be able to hold out for a limited time. I’ve requested help from the Imperial Navy, but it will be several days before they can arrive. We need you to make haste to come to our aid. It’s insane, but I know you can get here even from halfway across the galaxy much sooner than they will.”
Robert gave her a sheepish grin. “I may have slightly exceeded my authority in requesting a package be delivered to the planet as part of o
ur mission. We have armor and a considerable weapons load-out, so we’ll be able to hold out for a time, although the numbers will probably eventually overwhelm us. If it were just us, I’m sure we could escape out into one of the wilderness areas and avoid capture until help could arrive, but with all the civilians we expect to be protecting, that will be impossible.
“It seems hopeless, but something tells me you’ll get here on time. I don’t know how I know this, but I really do believe you’re the only one who can resolve this situation.”
Robert’s face remained serious, but he had a slight twinkle in his eyes. “I know this is a lot more significant than what you expected us to run into, so I’ve decided to forgive you for what you tried to do to us. Marines don’t take vacations and we needed to be with you. I’ve had to struggle with that the entire time you were gone.”
He gave a short laugh. “But despite all that, here we are right in the middle of a situation where we’re most needed. So we will do our duty.” He bowed his head in respect to the Empire they both served, knowing the Princess, of all people, would understand.
Finally, he went on. “I expect to lose our interstellar com support soon, so you won’t be able to communicate with us until you reach the system, but I’ll make sure you have constant situational updates available by satellite for when you do arrive.
“May your wings take flight and your missiles burn true, My Lady.”
The message ended, leaving a stunned Jarra. “May your boots press on your enemies’ necks and your blasters burn hot,” she whispered in reply to the traditional phrasing at the end.
With a sigh, Jarra looked over at her team, who had all stopped to listen to the message. She hadn’t put it in private mode, knowing that since it was flagged urgent, they would need to know immediately. She wasn’t sorry; after all, the Master Sergeant and the Marines were their very own.
“Galen, I need the fastest route you can give us to the planet New Earth, even if we have to use the void drive and even if we have to face a little turbulence. Robert needs us, as well as a planet full of innocents.”
“I know, Your Highness,” Galen told her. “I’ve already plotted the first part of our course to the core and we’ll get underway as soon as Kaeden is aboard. I’ll continue refining it to include the use of the void drive and I should be able to shave three or four hours off that part of the flight. Once we reach the other side of the galactic core and I can look at current scans, I’ll do the same for the flight to New Earth.”
Jarra nodded. “Yes, time is of the essence, so do whatever you need to get us moving. Get Gabo to help with programming the ship’s AI to help calculate the effects of the void drive. We can fine-tune the plot as we go.”
She gave her team a smile. “I’m going to put together a message for my cousin. My uncle indicated he was sending John and his squadron and I’m sure he expects they’ll get there first.”
Her smile grew wider at their reactions and she found them returning her smile. They didn’t like to lose either. “I’m planning to tell my cousin that we intend to beat him, so don’t let me down.”
Galen just nodded. He was busy concentrating on finding the fastest route possible.
Jarra was still working on her message for her cousin when she was briefly interrupted. It was Kaeden returning from the planet in a high speed shuttle flight, obviously being piloted by a Borjon with its extreme flight path. Only a Borjon could fly like that.
I guess they got the message, she smiled as she thought to herself. Internally she breathed a sigh of relief as the ship approached and instead of doing the usual slow docking process, extended a boarding probe.
“I’m here,” Kaeden shouted some brief seconds later as he came running into the ship’s control room. “Surely you’re not waiting on me? Get us moving!”
Kaeden was also of the Borjon race, the race who in their past history had been able to fly, and he had to have used that ability to literally fly across the weightless tube connecting the two ships. Realizing that brought a smile to Jarra’s face, for that had happened before and Jason had given Kaeden his first taste of sarcasm, commenting on his speed to cross between ships. That first instance had brought total bewilderment from poor Kaeden, who was still trying to understand his human team members. Now it seemed Kaeden could dish out his own sarcasm.
Galen didn’t waste any time. “Initiating fast hyperdrive now,” he told her. “Void drive engaged as well.”
“Thank you,” Jarra replied quietly. “I don’t know how I know it, but it is essential we get there as soon as possible — as in not a minute too late.”
Galen just nodded. The members of the small crew of the ship Katarina were used to her seeing things that no one else could. “I’ll do my best and Kaeden will be a big help too.”
Jarra turned to Jason. “Jase, you have the bridge. Sara has asked me to come see her in sick bay and now is probably the best time to do that.”
“No problem. I’ve got it. You’ve been wanting to talk to her.”
“Yes, I’m hoping that means she’s ready to come out of sick bay earlier than we expected. We could use her help programming the AI instead of using Gabo.”
She smiled, lowering her voice to at least give the semblance of privacy. “I know Gabo’s been keeping her company and I think it’s helped her a lot.”
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Jason had to ask. To everyone but Sara it had been obvious something was developing between them, but Sara had been unwilling to give it a chance. Jarra knew it had a lot to do with her past growing up in foster care. Sara was still slow to trust, but this team entirely ran on trust and they’d proven it over and over again.
“I think so. There’s nothing like not knowing if you're going to wake up to get you to see it’s time to take a few risks. Hopefully, it will work out for them.”
Jason didn’t tell her they already had a pool going for when the two would get together. As their leader, Jarra had to at least pretend she didn’t know about it. Based on Kaeden’s smile, he was the one that would win the pool if it happened on this mission. But Jason only answered her with a simple, “Good!”
It was like Jarra had read his thoughts, seeing the smile cross her face. She didn’t comment either. Instead, she went on, “Something tells me she’s going to be needed soon on this mission, but that something also tells me she’s going to have a little help this time around.”
“You don’t say,” Jason told her with a smile. “That in itself should be enough to get her attention.”
Jarra returned his smile. “You’re probably right. She never could stand competition.”
Feeling just a little bit of urgency, Jarra quickly hurried down to see her friend. Something told her it was even more important than just Sara deciding it was time to leave sick bay, not that she’d turn that down. They really did need her.
He had done his duty. The Imperial Navy squadron left two minutes short of the hour’s time John had demanded. By this time, no one in the squadron was surprised by his commands or with the results, so despite their grumbling and the stance that what he asked couldn’t be done, they’d just done it.
A few officers were indeed left behind. John made sure everyone understood that they were not to be punished — not this time at least. In the future it would be a different story. He intended his squadron to be the best and that meant always being ready if called upon. All the critical officers were to be couriered out to the squadron; the rest would have to find other positions in the fleet at perhaps a slight loss of prestige, but that just couldn’t be avoided.
John sent a message to his uncle as an update, but he sent it as a status only message so it wouldn’t wake him if he’d found sleep in the interval as he hoped. Despite the joking about the Imperial Ball with him, John did worry about his uncle. The last few weeks had been challenging for the Empire and his uncle’s face showed his stress to those who knew him. Unfortunately, John didn’t see an end in sight to the s
tress he knew his uncle was going to have to deal with.
It seemed like challenge after challenge appeared before them, each one more difficult than the last. Luckily, his cousin seemed to be the one out on the tip of that spear and she and her crew had done amazing stuff. That led to John thinking about a particular member of her crew.
I hope you’re doing well, my dear Sasha. Perhaps when this mission is over, we’ll get to spend some time together. That brought a smile to his face.
Luckily, his crew were all busy, so they missed the dreamy look on his face, a look he’d been trying to hide from them. Then, his thoughts were interrupted, so the crew completely missed their chance. That interruption was a ping on his implants from the Dauntless Com officer.
“Encrypted com message for you, Your Highness. It’s from the Crown Princess.”
“I’d better take it in my duty room,” he informed the man. “Thank you, Casey.”
John hurried into the nearby duty room that as squadron commander he was provided. It was basically a small conference room. He quickly pulled up the message using the room’s enhanced 3D VR system. There stood his dear cousin Jarra, who he considered more like a sister than cousin. In her message, she offered him a smile, but he knew her and could tell it was more than a little forced.
“Hello, cuz.” She was trying to lighten it up to start with, that was obvious, but John could see the worry in her eyes.
“We’ve just received the Master Sergeant’s message and will be underway shortly.” She glanced away momentarily. “Make that now,” she amended.
“I’m sure that by now you’re aware of the situation on New Earth and are making preparations to get underway.” John smiled at that. She’d be surprised when he told her they were already underway, an Imperial Navy record by far.
